Page:Aurangzíb and the Decay of the Mughal Empire.djvu/154

148 bore witness to his iconoclastic zeal. With such a man Aurangzíb had many grounds of sympathy; and when Mír Jumla fell out with his King, and threw himself upon the protection of the Mughal, it is not surprising that he was welcomed with effusion, and accorded the rank of a 'Commander of 5000.' Having secured this valuable ally, Aurangzíb warmly espoused his cause and set about redressing his wrongs. He sent his eldest son, that 'tender sapling in the garden of success,' Prince Muhammad, to demand justice for Mír Jumla from his former sovereign (Jan., 1656), and took so much pains to disguise his intentions that the astonished King had barely time to escape from his capital, Bhágnagar, afterwards callád Haidarábád, to the neighbouring fortress of Golkonda, before his enemies were in the city.

Aurangzíb then advanced in person, and laid siege to Golkonda, where he repulsed the King's first sally with a furious charge of the Mughal horse, leading the way on his war-elephant. In vain 'Abdallah sent baskets of gems and gorgeously caparisoned chargers and elephants to appease the besieger; Aurangzíb would listen to no terms; and when the King, as a last resource, begged to be allowed to send his mother as a mediator, the Prince refused to see her. Driven to bay, the King fought hard, but the siege was pressed harder, and when Sháyista Khán came up at the